Servo et Protego
by XWingAce
Summary: For a while now, Chloe Decker has noticed that when she's feeling like injustice is happening, her suspects suddenly become a lot more cooperative. Then one day Lucifer catches sight of her face during one of these episodes, and that means there is the Devil to pay.


It's hard to say exactly when it started, afterwards. But it was probably here:

"You are a woman of logic and reason Detective, so you require proof."

When Chloe took Lucifer's hands, a tingle went all the way down her spine. Something within her actually believed she would be shown something special – Lucifer was coming clean.

Of course it was another stupid prank. Lucifer achieved nothing but looking constipated, and Chloe felt a different heat rising to her cheeks. Embarrassment that she ever believed he would open up like that.

-x-

Things developed slowly. Chloe spent a lot of time doing follow-ups on old cases and helping on other investigations – anything that would keep her out of Lucifer's way.

Not that it helped much. Chloe was avoiding the headache of Lucifer. That didn't stop any other headaches. And they were plentiful.

The first time Chloe noticed one of these headaches, she was processing an old case – ultimately, they'd had to let the suspect go due to lack of evidence. She had to stop reading for a few minutes because her eyes were burning. She rubbed her hands over her eyes, trying to reduce the sensation.

"Everything OK, Chloe?" That was Dan, coming in with more files.

"I'm fine," Chloe said, shaking her head. "Just … paperwork, you know?"

"That I do." Dan dumped the files on her desk with a wry smile. "Here's some more." He stood there fidgeting for a few seconds, as if he was unsure how to offer his commiserations. He eventually settled on a "Hang in there." Then he left.

Plenty more headaches in that pile. Cold cases, where they never found a clue at all, and no justice was found for the victims at all. Older cases, where Chloe just _knew_ who had done the deed, but there had been no evidence for an arrest. She set these aside for further investigation, again.

But then there were the cases that were being permanently closed. The perpetrators had been caught and presented to the court years ago - and some were now being released. These caused the worst headaches of all.

Chloe considered seeing an optometrist, she was getting so many headaches and burning eyes. Maybe she needed glasses.

But then she caught a case, and her headaches disappeared for a while. With some time for both of them to cool down, even working with Lucifer felt – almost like it had before. Which didn't mean _no_ headaches, but they were different. And the pain in her eyes was now easily ascribed to muscle-strain, she had to roll them so often.

But the partnership wasn't what it used to be. Lucifer was completely absorbed in his own issues most of the time. Once upon a time, she thought they'd gotten past that. Apparently not. And Lieutenant Pierce taking Lucifer's side a lot of the time didn't help.

Her burning-eye headaches returned. Not just during paperwork anymore, either. Sometimes they showed up out of the blue when a suspect decided to run, and Chloe set off in hot pursuit. Other times, the burning in her eyes started during interrogations. Especially during difficult ones.

One time, the interrogation was going so badly, Chloe didn't even bother rubbing her eyes when the burning presented itself. She just narrowed her eyes at the suspect, willing the pain away.

The suspect fell silent, his eyes widening. He scrabbled in his chair for a few seconds, but when Chloe didn't make any further move, he started talking. Sang like a proper canary. Every question got a quick and, as far as Chloe could determine with repeat questioning, truthful answer.

That was weird. But she'd take the small victories.

-x-

By now, Chloe was almost used to the headaches. They happened quite often. And there seemed to be some sort of correlation between them and her success rate, lately. Suspects talked more easily if she interrogated them during a headache. But if it came on during a chase, the suspect was much more likely to run faster and with more determination. But she caught them anyway.

That's basically what happened this time, too. Chloe was in pursuit, and the headache was coming on. Her perp stopped – for breath or whatever - and turned. He saw her coming, paled, and started running again.

Chloe piled on the effort. This creep was not getting away. Her heartrate was up and she felt her eyes burning, but she pushed through it. By the time she caught up to the perp again, her cheeks were also flushed with the effort.

She caught up and tackled the guy. He started to turn around, still plenty of fight in him.

But as soon as he was fully turned, all resistance… faded away. Instead of resisting, he fell to his knees. "Please don't hurt me," he begged.

"Stop resisting arrest, and I won't," Chloe responded to that. She proceeded to handcuff the still completely cooperative perp, who seemed eager to talk about his misdeeds. All this despite Chloe's insistence on reading him his rights in full. Oh well. It did wonders to clear up her headache. It was completely gone by the time Dan arrived with backup.

-x-

Chloe's partnership with Lucifer was… uneven, still. Just when she thought he really didn't care anymore, Lucifer would do something grand and entirely focused on her – only to turn around and seemingly forget about everything the next day. And then this whole business with the Sinnerman. Why keep it from her in the first place? And then, after she'd had his back, betray her like he had by going off on his own and almost killing a man?

She'd been upset right after it happened. Especially since Lucifer _kept_ insisting he was doing it for the team. You just didn't go off solo like that for the team, no matter what. If anything, thinking back on it now made it _worse_.

The burning behind her eyes announced an imminent headache. Awesome. Now they were even happening at home. Chloe went to get some Tylenol. It hadn't helped before, but at least she could have the illusion she was doing something about it.

Something caught her eye in the mirror as she opened the medicine cabinet, and the closed the door to focus on her reflection.

Her eyes were red.

Not red-rimmed. Nor bloodshot. Either would have been plausible, given that this headache usually started and focused around her eyes. No, her irises had changed colour into a fiery red.

Not just that, they were _glowing_.

What the hell? Was this what happened all the time she had these headaches? That would explain all those frightened responses from her suspects. Even under these circumstances, it was more than a little disconcerting.

Chloe blinked, and the fire in her reflection was gone. So was her headache, just like that. But as soon as she thought back to Lucifer, holding the Sinnerman with a knife to his throat, she could see the glow start around her pupils, like embers flaring up with a gust of fresh air.

She opened the cupboard again to take the Tylenol after all. Then she sat down on the toilet, that being the nearest seat available. She didn't want to have to trust her legs right now.

What was going on?

OK, Decker. Take a breath and apply logic. Her eyes were lighting up, and she was having headaches. Conclusion – go see a damn doctor already.

Now she might not be an expert on medical issues, but bioluminescence was not something associated with a lot of afflictions. Was this something medical, really? What else could it be?

What else did she know? Thinking about Lucifer had brought it on this time, but that wasn't it in general. In fact, she mostly had these headaches when Lucifer _wasn't_ around. Something he'd done, then?

Well that wasn't much of a help. What _hadn't_ he done, lately? Run off again after promising to tell her the truth about himself, only to come back with a crazy story and no answers. Then that stupid prank 'reveal' that revealed nothing. His obsession with this 'Sinnerman' character – and he hadn't told her he'd been working on that case for _weeks_. And then, when they were finally working together normally again, his betrayal. She had _come through_ for him, helped him break out the Sinnerman. Only for Lucifer to ditch her, run off on his own and try to kill the guy. The injustice of it was giving her a headache.

Hang on. It really _was_ giving her the headache.

Chloe pushed herself back to her feet so she could see the mirror. Yup, red eyes. She closed her eyes and tried to calm the headache down. And it was easy. As soon as she stopped thinking about the stupid, _unfair_ things Lucifer had been doing, the headache calmed.

Come to think of it, most of the times she could remember getting these headaches, a criminal was threatening to escape justice – either literally, or because they didn't have enough information to find out who the criminal even was. Was that the trigger, then?

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. Injustice, OK. Chloe thought back to the time she watched her father's killer walk out of the courthouse, fully acquitted. And that after _years_ of evading justice at all.

Wow, yeah, that worked. Her eyes lit up red again, the edges of the irises blurring into a smoky black edge this time. Her father's killer had never really gotten his just deserts. He'd died anonymously in a back alley. And those killers had never been brought to justice, either. Chloe didn't let it drag her down, but the injustice of it could enrage her when she let it. She let it, now.

She felt a flush rise to her cheeks. And then she saw it, too, her cheeks reddening. The glow in her eyes intensified, too. It almost seemed as if the smoky edge around her iris expanded to fill the sclera.

Then the flush in her cheeks changed.

Her face… _changed_.

One second she was looking at herself, albeit with slightly weird eyes. Next second, her reflection showed … something else.

Chloe took a step back. The creature in the mirror also stepped further away. She turned her head. The reflection also turned, revealing more of the red, scarred and burned visage. Together with the red eyes, it made for quite the intimidating sight.

She'd seen it before.

As soon as Chloe realised that, the face disappeared. She was left looking at her own reflection again.

It had been a reflection before, too. But not hers. Lucifer's.

 _What are you_. She'd seen his reflection as he'd turned to the woman who had faked her own kidnapping and planned to shoot her boyfriend instead of bringing him to justice for rape. Lucifer had gone into the situation alone, keeping her out of it. She'd found her own way in. But not before the boyfriend had been shot, the girl's brother had received a bruised sternum and the girl was left on the floor, begging not to be hurt. Like Chloe's perps had been begging, lately.

 _I've been trying to tell you: I'm the Devil_ She'd come _so_ close to believing Lucifer's claims then.

This was ridiculous. Lucifer wasn't the Devil. He was as mortal as anyone else. She had the bullet to prove it. And if _he_ wasn't the Devil, Chloe _definitely_ wasn't. Better call that doctor.

-x-

"Is everything all right, Detective?" Lucifer asked. "You seem distracted." He was sitting at her desk, waiting for Chloe as she came into the station. Maybe he wanted something from her again. He checked the clock on the wall. "And you're late. Very unlike you."

Chloe shook her head. "I had a doctor's appointment, all right?" She'd been to see her primary care doc, who had taken note of the less outlandish of her symptoms (she hadn't spoken about the glowing eyes or the demon face) and recommended she take it a little easier. Big help, doc. "Besides, we don't really have a case. What are you doing here?"

"I had something to discuss with Lieutenant Pierce." That was an evasion. Again. Whatever.

"Sure." Chloe seated herself at her desk and checked that Lucifer hadn't done anything 'helpful' to the stack of paperwork on it. She put her hand down on it. "I'm just going to be working through this. I think I'd prefer to do that without your help. After last time."

Lucifer had the grace to look chastened. "Well, I can at least get you your coffee, then." He picked up a cup from her desk. Chloe hadn't had it, coming in. "This one's gone cold."

"Thanks," Chloe said, her mind already on the old case in front of her. This file and the next few were standard paperwork – fill in a few fields, tick a few boxes, and done.

But then she opened the next file, and she really should have looked at the label better. Whoever had sorted the files before putting them on her desk really should have warned her about this one. Or not put it on her desk at all.

Last details of Perry Smith's murder. The case was being put in abeyance. Closed, to all intents and purposes, until maybe a cold-case squad would get a look at it in a decade or so.

Chloe felt her eyes burning and her cheeks flushing. She couldn't force herself to look away, to stop it. Her father's murderer had escaped justice, and had escaped it forever. He wouldn't hurt anyone else, but it still hurt _her_.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a crash. Chloe looked up.

About six feet from her desk, the remains of one of the departmental coffee mugs lay in a puddle of coffee. The coffee had also soaked a pair of expensive shoes and Italian wool trousers. Lucifer's.

Lucifer stood staring at her, eyes wide and mouth open. He'd frozen in place, all blood drained from his face.

Even as Chloe looked at him, she saw animation returning. It happened from the ground up, feet shifting slightly, a knee coming forward, the muscle in his thigh tensing up. Then his fists balled and the set of his shoulders changed before his expression even started darkening.

Lucifer's temper could be volatile. Chloe had witnessed it often enough. But she'd never seen it be directed at _her_. It was happening now. Suddenly, she understood why so many people ran. Her own instincts were screaming at her to get away.

She did. She made a beeline for the elevators, managing to close the doors just before Lucifer reached them as well. He'd started to say something, but she didn't catch what.

She pressed the button for the top floor, then immediately regretted that decision. That would leave her with nowhere to go. Well, at least it would mean Lucifer would take longer to follow her on the stairs, even with his long legs.

The elevator ride did give Chloe a few more minutes to think. Everyone else who had caught a glimpse of her eyes had been afraid. If possible, they'd tried to run away from her. Not Lucifer. He'd come running toward her. And the emotion building on his face hadn't been fear. It had been anger.

What did Lucifer know? Was he involved in this?

-x-

Chloe took the stairs up to the roof because at this point, she might as well. It was the closest fresh air available, and the other elevator gave no indication that Lucifer was coming after her. If he was taking the stairs all the way from the bullpen, she'd have plenty of time to get her thoughts in order.

But, when she got to the roof, Chloe barely got time to take a breath. As soon as she closed the door on the stairwell, Lucifer was in front of her, a towering inferno of rage.

"How did you take it?!" He demanded. He slammed a hand into the wall beside her, hard enough to crack stone. What on earth?

How had Lucifer gotten up here before her in the first place? And what had him so angry? "Lucifer," she started to say. Anything to calm him down.

He wasn't listening. He had pushed away from her again, maybe just to have room to gesture. He was certainly going for the grand movements. He spun around once, arms spread wide and looking up into the sky. "I bet it's all been one big shared joke, right? Some divine pun on 'smiting your enemies?'"

"Lucifer, what are you talking about?" Chloe tried again, louder.

This time, he heard her. He turned back toward her. His anger was – maybe not dissipating – but it was no longer quite as incandescent. "My face," he said. "You took my _face_." He put a hand on his own chest. "What else did you have a hand in?"

She recognised the emotions beneath the anger, now. She'd seen it before, when he'd been framed for murder. He'd faced an entire cadre of police officers and laughed. And then tried to commit suicide-by-cop. All because he thought she'd betrayed him.

"Lucifer, I don't understand." But she might be starting to, a little bit. He'd seen the strange face she'd seen in the mirror, just now in the police station. And that had sent him into a fury like she'd never seen him in.

"Don't _lie_ to me, Detective." Lucifer took a deep breath and drew himself up. The storm had calmed… but the fire was only banked, not extinguished. "I saw you, downstairs. You had _my_ face." He took a few steps closer, so he was looking almost straight down at her, and repeated his first question: "How did you take it?"

"Lucifer, you're scaring me." Chloe reached out, feeling for his hands. She took them between her own, and looked up into his eyes. "I have _no_ idea what is going on."

Lucifer frowned. The anger in his expression was fading, being replaced by confusion. "You … don't?"

Chloe shook her head. "Not a clue." She let go of one of his hands so she could gesture at her own face. "What you saw… That's why I had that doctor's appointment today, Lucifer. I've been having headaches, and I saw something weird in the mirror."

Lucifer's eyes hadn't left hers. Now he did look away. Closed his eyes, even.

He stepped away from her, giving Chloe space to move again. Lucifer put his hands together in front of his nose and mouth, taking a few deep breaths. Then he let his arms fall to his sides.

When he opened his eyes again, Chloe at first thought she saw tears in them, reflecting the morning sunlight. It made them appear amber instead of their usual dark brown. But, as Lucifer moved, she saw that it couldn't be the sunlight. Even with his back to the sun, the golden light in Lucifer's eyes remained.

Lucifer shook his head. "I should know better, Detective. You are being used as much as I am." His mouth pulled together, a tiny echo of his earlier anger. It wasn't directed at her, this time. He sighed again. "And you're not even aware of it. With all your logic, with all your reason, you always find a way to explain the signs you've been shown."

Chloe frowned at him. "Lucifer, you're still making no sense."

Lucifer raised his hand. "Please, Detective. I'm trying to explain, I really am." He almost smiled at that point, although it was a rueful rather than happy. "I've told you so many times, but you wouldn't believe. It was easier that way for both of us, I think." The smile developed into an actual, if ironic, laugh. "And then, when I finally _really_ tried to show you, Dad played another of his jokes!"

Lucifer's hand moved to her face. He hesitated for an instant, as if waiting for Chloe to pull away. When she didn't, he stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers – just a feather-touch. "You got to see it for yourself, up close and personal." He pulled his hand back again.

Chloe put her own hand up to her face, to the cheek Lucifer had just touched. He was talking about the scarred face she'd seen in the mirror – the one he'd seen downstairs. _His_ face, as he'd pretty much said outright by now. The face of… what?

Lucifer, in the meantime, had squared his shoulders and taken yet another deep breath. "I'm sorry, Detective, that you had to go through that. I'm pretty sure my Father was involved, but the possibility exists that _I_ did it, inadvertently." Now he took her hands in his – lightly, so she could withdraw at any second. "I would like to try and fix it – take it back. Will you let me do so?"

Chloe nodded. Those golden eyes were regarding her so solemnly, there was nothing else she could do.

Lucifer nodded along with her. "Thank you." His grip on her hands tightened, just a little. "Can you show me that face?"

Chloe frowned. She'd only once managed to consciously summon it – and these were hardly the circumstances to experiment.

Lucifer saw her frown and changed tactics. "You had it downstairs," he asked, gently stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. " What happened to bring it on?"

"I just got the file about Perry Smith…"Right, her father's murderer, escaping justice. That's what had brought it on. Although thinking about it now barely rated in instant of headache.

But it was something. "That's good, focus on that," Lucifer encouraged her. "He didn't get what he deserved, did he? Is there anyone else that should be punished, that wasn't?"

Oh, there were plenty. Some of them were even dead, like Perry. The professor that had come so close to poisoning her – dead before she even fully grasped what he'd done. Malcolm Graham, for – well, pretty much everything he'd ever done. He'd gotten away with it all; then died before justice could get to him. The Sinnerman, shot by Pierce before he could be properly interrogated.

These criminals were all _stopped_ , certainly. But if you lined them up like this, there were so many people she'd failed to bring to justice. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Not just tears, either. Somewhere in that train of thought, the headache had set in. Chloe felt the burning in her eyes and the flush that she'd come to associate with her change in appearance.

She'd looked away from Lucifer to focus her thoughts. Now, she heard him gasp. He let go of her hands, only to slide his arms around her. He guided her head against his chest, pulling her into an infinitely gentle embrace. Like she was a precious, fragile thing that needed to be protected.

The sun was in Chloe's eyes. Whether she opened or closed them, they saw nothing but a warm, golden light beyond Lucifer's shoulders. Her headache receded. Lucifer stroked her hair. "If it's any consolation, Detective, they are all receiving their punishment elsewhere. I guarantee it." A breath disturbed the hair on the top of her head. Lucifer's lips touched there briefly.

They stood like that for a few heartbeats. Chloe felt safer than she had felt in a long time. She really shouldn't. Nothing about this situation was safe, or even comprehensible. And yet…

It couldn't last. Lucifer sighed, hugged her a little tighter for half an instant, and then let go. He stepped back two paces, then stood there.

His face had changed. The burns and scarring Chloe had seen on her own face in the bathroom mirror had been transferred onto Lucifer's face. It looked natural on him, strange as that might seem. Lucifer was still there underneath, in the nervous pull of his lips and the expectant look in his eyes.

Lucifer's eyes were different, though. In her mirror, Chloe had seen a red glow. The eyes now looking at her with such apprehension still shone the same gold they had earlier.

There was nothing to be afraid of here. Lucifer could be scary, sure. When something aroused his anger, he inspired fear. She'd seen an example only minutes ago. Had this all happened so quickly? But even just now, although Lucifer's anger had briefly been directed at her, he hadn't hurt her. As soon as he was assured of her innocence – of whatever she was supposed to have done – his anger had dissipated. He hadn't touched her, not without her permission. Not even when he _had_ still been angry with her.

Whatever else Lucifer was, he was her partner. End of story.

Well, end of _that_ story at least. The weird quotient of Chloe's life had been creeping up ever since she'd met Lucifer, but over the past few weeks, that growth had accelerated. And over the past few minutes… skyrocketed was too mild a term to describe it.

Lucifer swallowed, and his face became – normal again. His eyes, too, went back to dark brown. From this angle, they almost looked black. He raised his chin. "Well, Detective?"

Clearly, things were possible that couldn't be explained by science or common sense. And Lucifer was deeply, intimately, involved in exactly those kinds of events. That could be considered proven. His assertion that he was the Devil had gained a lot of credibility today. Lucifer had power beyond money and physical strength, of a kind Chloe couldn't quite comprehend yet.

But he was still standing there, presenting himself before her. Waiting for her… verdict? Rejection? Something else?

"Why?" It was the first question that came to mind.

Lucifer's eyes widened in surprise. Then he forced a laugh. "That's a useless question where my Father is concerned, Detective. He never answers that one."

Chloe shook her head. "I'm asking _you_. Let's say you're the Devil. What's the point of any of this?" She took a step toward him, to jab a finger at his chest. "Why come here? Why latch on to _me_? Why pretend to be a club owner, a police consultant?"

Lucifer's face had lit up with a smile at her acceptance. But as he heard the rest of her questions, the smile fell again. "Why not?" He stepped away, toward the edge of the rooftop. "The point was to be my own man, to not let my Father define me." He indicated the city, golden in the morning sunlight. "This city is place for rediscovery. Lux is a place where I can dance, play music and make people _happy_ for a change."

That made some sort of sense. But Lucifer was way to driven toward retribution and vengeance – or justice - for that to be the only thing that could occupy him for long. So maybe that's where she came in.

Lucifer wasn't done talking. "Then Father put you in my path. And I'm powerless to resist." He turned to look at her, looking straight into her eyes. "I tried to stay away, Detective, to protect you from His meddling. From me, at my worst." His head dropped. "But I couldn't. I had to come back."

Another forced laugh. "So Father forces me back to being a punisher." He looked up at the sky. "He enjoys playing with his toys too much."

"Are you? Punishing people?" Chloe had had to _stop_ Lucifer doing exactly that several times in their early partnership, true. But what he helped her do was not punish people, not directly. Together, they brought the guilty to justice, yes. But punishment wasn't in the job description of the LAPD. That's what the courts were for. "Doesn't look like it to me."

She put a hand on his arm. Before Lucifer could speak, she continued, "You put murderers behind bars. By doing that, you've protected everyone in LA. You've protected me and my daughter – you've saved my life at least three times by my count." She leaned her head against his shoulder, looking up at his face from that angle. "Isn't that what you're doing? Protecting us?"

Lucifer looked at her for a few seconds. Then he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her a little closer. Together they looked out over LA. "When you put it like that, Detective, it doesn't sound so bad."


End file.
